Beautiful Inside
by NAPPA
Summary: Post-Hogwarts. Hermione and Harry has a project to do together. Will it spark love?


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Beautiful Inside (1/2)  
~Nappa  
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" Hermione?" Harry breathlessly asked.  
" Yes?" she said, gasping for breath.  
There was an unknown feeling his chest, when Harry asked. " Am I doing it right?"  
Hermione was so breathless that as her senses overwhelmed her, she could barely hiss out, "Yes."  
Her eyes closed...  
  
  
  
Previously...  
  
Hermione Granger: A typical female - well, maybe not. She is a witch, and a brilliant one at that. Actually, make that the most brilliant witch the magical world has seen in the last three centuries. Her parents, only Muggle dentists. Best friend to Ron Weasley, third in ranking of chess Grandmasters worldwide, and Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.  
  
But a person's credentials are never whom they know or who their parents' are. It's who they are. She is a vibrant girl of nineteen years of age. She graduated from Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only a few short months ago. She is clever and deep thinking. She is always proper, though when the need arises, she can be as adventurous as any man or woman. She can be annoying, but that is only to safeguard her small circle of friends. She would, and has many times proven it, give her life for them. She is not the drop dead gorgeous girl that every one that lusts after. On the contrary, though she is beautiful both inside and out, people (and more specifically, boys) stay away from her, because she so easily intimidates them.  
  
Like her last boyfriend, Ron Weasley. In their second year of dating, he could not stand her being more than a friend. He reverted back to friend status and he remained so. That was almost half a year ago. Join me, in the exciting day of Hermione Granger, when she would meet the man of her dreams... well, when she sees him in blue.  
  
  
Hermione had his arm in a mind-bogglingly strong grip as she dragged Harry to the their destination. Harry protested, of course only for show. He really did not mind the company of his friend; in fact, spending time with her was one of his favourite pasttimes. The other two of course being Quidditch and spending time with his other best friend, Ron Weasley.  
  
" Hermione, can you not drag me? I am coming with you. If you keep doing it, I'll end up with a dislocated shoulder in a few minutes." Hermione relaxed her grip on him, though she was still gripping him hard enough to make it impossible to escape. Not that it was ever in his mind. Oh no. It was all in Hermione's mind. " Thanks."  
  
Because Hermione had stopped dragging him, they were now walking side by side. She rested her shoulder on his shoulder and murmured out, " You're welcome."  
  
" Where are we going though?" He said, looking curiously at the homes on either side of the road. It was not heading to Hermione's parents home or Ron's "bachelor's pad" - something he had yet to find a use for. Harry lived with the Weasley's until he could get a place of his own - he insisted that he pay for his boarding and Mr. Weasley reluctantly agreed.  
  
The houses were decent. There were some children playing on the road, there were trees that lines the street. Though it was not the best part of London for someone to live in, it definitely was the best part of London to raise a family. " You'll see, but first close your eyes." Hermione said, drawing him out of the "tourist" mode.  
  
He looked down and saw that smile. It had a hint of something in there that Harry wasn't sure if he'd like to find out the reason for. But he trusted her implicitly. His eyes closed and he lost his orientation. After about two minutes Hermione told him to open his eyes.  
  
There was a white small house with a porch and a swing seat in the front. There was a green lawn, as well as a white picket fence. But it was far from ideal.   
  
The lawn was not manicured. The weeds covered the white picket fence so that Harry could barely make out some of them. He genuinely thought he saw the remains of a poor mail man lying on the grass, or something. The weeds had also grown beyond the fence. They crossed the lawn and were practically consuming the house. The driveway leading into the house was barely visible through the grass that had grown between the bricks. In fact, if Hermione had not told him that the driveway was brick paved, he would have had no idea. Harry was sure that the years of neglect on the part of the owners had caused this mess. Though, he was sure, Neville would be happy to spend his life studying the brand new species of flora that he was sure to be found there, as he was a herb aficionado.   
  
" What am I looking at? - Other than the obvious neglect of the owner?"   
Hermione frowned at him." You're looking at the new house of Mr. And Mrs. Granger!"  
  
" What?" He yelped in surprise. He thought Paul and Diane Granger were smart people. How could they think of buying this house? He was no expert, but he was sure that the structure of the house was damaged from years of neglect. " You've got to be kidding me! Did they get conned into buying this?"  
  
" No!" Hermione seemed defensive. " It's my house. I bought it. I thought you would like it." Harry stepped back from Hermione. An alien must have taken the real Hermione away, and left a poor substitute. He was sure that Hermione's parents would never have let her buy that house. " Why did you say it was their house then?"  
  
" Whose house?"  
  
" Your parents. Mr. And Mrs. Granger. That's what you said."  
  
Hermione smiled. " Oh! That! Well, I'm not changing my name for a man. If he wants me, then he will have to change his."  
  
Harry shook his head at Hermione's silliness, but said nothing. Hermione had a way of getting what she wanted- like recently, when all the house elves in Britain were given one day off each year. There was chaos all over the magical world, but she had managed to convince the ministry to make it a annual event. It was not what Hermione wanted (to free them, so they can be never hurt again), but it was getting closer with each day. He was sure that Hermione would get that too. She was what he thought every man's dream was. Beautiful, loyal, caring, and smart. Why they did not line up at her proverbial doorstep was beyond him.   
  
" Why did you buy this house..." started Harry, but stopped. " No! Calling this a house is an insult to a cardboard model! Hermione, I must insist, you not step in there. It's bound to come crashing down."  
  
" It's really quite nice, Harry. The inside is. That's your and Ron's problem. You two just look at the outside of things. Never inside."  
  
Harry knew, exactly was Hermione was talking about. She was talking about her and Ron's relationship and Harry's "flings".   
  
Hermione and Ron had broken up when she realised that Ron was after more the superficial side of her. Something that had hurt her in the beginning, but then she accepted hi nature and they went back to being just friends. Their relationship had never went past the initial stages of a relationship.  
  
Harry's was really not his fault. Sometimes women, be it muggle or magical, were just drawn to him, like moths to the flame. Hermione knew the full story, but she turned it on its bad side every time she would get upset with other boys.  
  
She had a reason to be. She had asked both Ron and Harry to help her in something, but Ron had weaseled out of it. Being the only man in the vicinity, Hermione was taking it out on him. It was quite okay by him. She had sheltered him through things much worse than a generalised comment abut his species.  
  
" Yeah, I know, we men are pigs. Now, can we hike through this thing you call a driveway and see the inside?" Harry joked.  
  
Hermione led him through the knee high grass to the front door. The door was unlocked. Before Harry could say that she should have had locked it, she said, " I cast a protection spell over the house and there's nothing to steal inside, so don't fret."  
  
Harry let out a gasp. Hermione was right. The house, though it looked so terrible from the outside, was really beautiful inside. There was a hardwood floor and lots of open space. The door entered right into the living room. There was a fireplace in one end and in the other, there was a stair leading to a raised part. The part that led into the kitchen. There were some pot plants here and there. The only thing that he did not like was the colour of the walls. But other than that, it was beautiful. " Wow!"  
  
" I thought you might think that. See everything is really nice in the house. It'll take a bit of work getting the outside fixed, so until I can, I'll just have to settle for fixing the inside. That's why you're here."  
  
" To do what?" Harry said apprehensively. He really did not want to work on the outside of the house. In his reverie about the house, he had missed what Hermione said about doing the inside first.  
  
" We're painting the inside."  
  
Harry was puzzled. " Why do you need me to do it? You did get the highest owl possible in Charm, so you can't have forgotten the colouring spells yet."  
  
Hermione looked flustered. " I can't use it. People from the neighbourhood are so friendly, they keep coming by. I don't want to be suspected of anything, you know..."  
  
As if on cue, there was a knock on the open door.  
  
" Yoohoo!" said a pleasant high pitched voice. Harry immediately thought of a woman, slightly plump, with a nice bun of hair and annoyingly likeable personality. When he turned around he saw her and confirmed his thoughts.Two things made her a bit more likeable, though. First was that she had brought a very big bowl of Jell-O. It was green and it wobbled.   
  
Harry loved Jell-O. He had only discovered it a few days ago, as the Dursley's never let him taste it. When Hermione found out, she had hand fed him a lot of it. Harry kept eating until he was sick. Hermione had commented that he was like a child, tasting chocolate for the first time. The other was a plate of chocolate chip muffins. The size of the chocolate pieces in itself was enough for Harry to almost lose control.  
  
Hermione rushed to the older woman and relieved her hands of the food items. " Oh! Thank you, Mrs. Browning. I love Chocolate chip muffins." Harry for a few moments wanted to be Hermione. She was so close to the delicious muffins. His thoughts turned to how they must feel like in his palm. How he would bite into them... it was almost erotic, thinking about those firm, gentle muffins...  
  
" Mrs. Browning..." Hermione put the food away in the hollow of the nearby bookshelf and grabbed the woman's hand and led her to Harry. Harry noticed that Hermione smelled of the muffins, and a slow light flush approached his face, as for a second all he things he had thought about the chocolate, suddenly were replaced by Hermione. Harry managed a quick recovery.  
  
Hermione continued, " This is Harry, Harry Potter. He's the one that's going to help me fix up the house."  
  
Mrs. Browning gave Harry a thorough look over - for a moment loosing all her charms and critically examining Harry. Before it became very uncomfortable, she gave Hermione an approving smile. " Tall. Well built. He'll do good. Looks to be good with his hands."   
  
She turned to Hermione and Harry thought it was a question directed more at her than him. Why on earth that would be, he had no idea. " Is he?"  
  
Hermione flushed that Harry missed, on account of him devouring the Jell-O with his eyes. It was wobbling slightly in the draft. Back and forth. Very slightly. Almost hypnotically. Just when Harry was getting into it, Hermione grabbed Harry hand and said, " Harry. This is Mrs. Browning. She live on the other side of the house..."  
  
" Dearie, how many times do I have to tell you, call me Adriana. That name makes me sound like I'm fifty three, when in reality, I'm just fifty one." She interrupted with a warm smile.  
  
Hermione gave one back at her. " Harry, Meet Adriana Browning."  
  
" Hello," Harry said putting his hand forward.   
  
Hermione kept talking, " He used to play for our school team. Very good. Legend, almost, from where we come from. He's nice, caring and mindful of others too."  
  
" You forgot something." Said Adriana. " He also has a pair of very fine big manly hands - which reminds me. Shouldn't he be working on the painting things?"  
  
" He will be, after I teach him how I want him to do it. I took out a lot of books on it from the library, so I know exactly how I want him to do it."  
  
" Have you decided on a colour dear, this red is an atrocious shade of the colour..." Harry could not agree more, but he doubted that either of the ladies were interested in his comments.   
  
" I thought of pink. Light tulip pink."  
  
Adriana shook her head. " You need blue dear. Sky blue, but very light. Get him to mix White paint with it. Tell him to do a full scrubbing of the wall, before he's let in. I'm sure you know that already."  
  
Hermione nodded. " I'm thinking of getting the soap to scrub some of the walls, but other than that, a light water scrub is good enough."  
  
" You made sure the paints don't have any lead, right? It'd be bad for little ones... I'm sure you're not thinking that far ahead, but it does..."  
  
" .. No no no... I did think of that. I've bought those echo paints, made from plant dyes. It says you can eat them and you can't die. Though they recommend you don't. Apparently, it tastes awful."  
  
" Good." Said Adriana, before turning to Harry. " Okay. I'll leave you two alone. You've got work to do. I'll tell the neighbours to leave you alone, but you never know with people around here. Some are just too friendly."  
  
" Goodbye." Said Harry watching Hermione lead the elder woman to the door.  
  
  
At the door, Adriana whispered something to Hermione and then left.  
  
Harry didn't say anything. Hermione had obviously talked to the woman before and it was none his business to ask what they talked about. Hermione came to him and said, " Let's give you the grand tour, shall we?"  
  
After some five minutes, Harry had the layout of the house memorised. There was two bedrooms in the house- the master and what looked to be small adjacent room for a baby.  
  
" Built for a small family, isn't it?" Harry asked.  
  
Hermione nodded. " I know. I thought of getting a flat in the city, but then thought, I would live in a house anyway, might as well get one now, save myself some money. And this house was cheap. Most people didn't even look at the inside!"  
  
" Where did you get the money, if you don't mind me asking? A house is expensive. Just the land should be worth a lot."  
  
" Oh! That's a secret. Okay. You know the twin's company, well, I'm a ten percent shareholder. Well, I was until recently. They bought back my share."  
  
" That's right! They told me that they had done that. So this is why you needed the money?"  
  
" Yes. You know, sometimes, I thank the anonymous benefactors of the twins, giving then a 999 galleon for their company and not wanting anything for it."  
  
Harry did not say anything. The twins claimed that a tall, fat and short man had given then 999 galleons for his 999th customer. No one believed them. Aside form the contradictory tall-short comment, no one thought someone would just give away the money. Someone would have had suspected something had it been exactly 1000 galleons that they were give, so the twins had lied. After the business got started, Hermione and Harry and Ron each received a 5% ownership for a small amount of money. Over the years the business prospered and it was now the third biggest joke company in the world, and now they were giving Zonkos a good run for their money. Harry lost almost all of his share in the market, ending up with 1% share in the company. Ron had lost all but then he bough back more shares with his money, was now 5% owner in the company. Hermione like in everything did a lot of research and found ways to keeping ahead of the stock market and she grew her percent to almost 20%, and she started to make changes in the company. She quickly realised her money would liquefy if she asked them to make changes, so she just sat back and relaxed. She lost half of the money later during the war with Voldemort, when everything went down and she did not keep ahead of the market. (Harry had been, and always would be, more important.) When she finally had a chance to see what was happening there, her shares had plummeted to 10%. She sold it. She needed rest and the market was not it.  
  
Wanting Hermione not to know about his involvement with the joke shop, he just asked where to begin.  
  
" Well, we'll start in the bedroom. The pains are in the cupboards."  
  
Harry followed her there. There was no bed there. Just a stack of faded old news paper and brushes and rollers. Hermione opened the cupboard and took out the empty buckets and conjured up the paint. Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
" What? I'm just speeding up the process." She said.  
  
" Won't the muggles be suspicious?" Harry teased.   
  
" No. I'll just tell them, I had the paint here already."  
  
" Yeah, yeah. Cheater." Harry grinned. " How do I do it?"  
  
" I'm letting that slide just because you're going to be painting in a moment. As to the instructions, simple. All you have to so is just conjure up a wet towel and scrub the wall. If there is grime there, just use a bit of soap. Do you need the spells?" Hermione said it in one breath. After she was finished, he was surprised to see that she was not even breathing hard.  
  
Harry shook his head and got to work.  
  
Hermione went to the smaller room and began to work also. It took Harry an hour to scrub the walls clean in there and just when he finished, Hermione walked into the room.   
  
" What do we do now?"  
  
" We have to sand it." She said, handing over a block with sanding paper underneath it. Harry just stared at the block.  
  
" What do I do?"  
  
Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. In her opinion anyone should be able to get it, but then again He was Harry Potter. The person that always missed the obvious.  
" Silly boys." She said as she moved Harry to the wall. Here is what you do. Put the block on the wall and scrub. A thin layer of the paint should come off. If it does not, then just change the orientation of the scrub and do it again. Like this."  
  
She did as she described for a moment.  
  
"Ok." He said taking the block with sand paper from her.   
  
" Hermione?" asked Harry breathlessly.  
  
" Yes?" she said, gasping for breath. There was too much dust in the air. She knew that she forgot something. She had forgotten the filters to cover her nose.  
  
There was an unknown feeling his chest, when Harry asked. " Am I doing it right?" It was from dust clod that was attacking him.  
  
Hermione was so breathless, as her senses overwhelmed her, she could barely hiss out, "Yes." The small cloud of paint dust attacker nose, mouth and eyes.  
  
Her eyes closed because of all sting from the paint.  
  
To be continued....   
  
( I hope people got the fact that the first few lines of the fic are the last few. I just had omitted a few things from the top one)  
  
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^_^ Rather evil of me in the beginning isn't it? Comments appreciated. ^_^  
There is another one in progress! Hint: What do you need after a 20 hour work day?  
  
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beta by Brian Yoon (seiryuu............... on ff.net) 


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